Dogs Killed In Raid On Mayor's Home

(CBS/ AP)  Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch, and brought it inside, putting it on a table.

Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package.

In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn't belong to the couple.

Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.

The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.

Now, federal authorities say they're looking into how local law enforcement handled the July 29 raid. FBI Agent Rich Wolf said late Thursday that the bureau had opened a civil rights investigation into the case.

A furious Calvo said earlier Thursday that he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, had asked the government to investigate.

"Trinity was an innocent victim and random victim," Calvo told reporters outside his two-story, red-brick house in this middle-class Washington suburb of about 3,000 people. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

"It was a horrible, horrible incident," Calvo told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Friday, "but I think it's also the kind of thing that happens, and I don't think we would have realized that until it happened to us."

"What's really troubling," Calvo continued, "is they didn't have a proper warrant to do what they did. They actually didn't give us a warrant at all until 71 hours after it happened. And that's really what's disturbing -- despite all the mistakes that were made, they're holding to their guns, saying they did nothing wrong.

"This happened to us. We can't get our dogs back, and we know that. But the reason we asked for federal authorities to investigate this is because this is a systemic problem, and we want to make sure that, while it happened to us and that's a tragedy, we don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Calvo insisted the couple's two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.

"Our dogs were our children," said the 37-year-old Calvo. "They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in."

The mayor, who was changing his clothes when police burst in, also complained that he was handcuffed in his boxer shorts for about two hours along with his mother-in-law, and said the officers didn't believe him when he told them he was the mayor. No charges were brought against Calvo or his wife, who came home in the middle of the raid.

Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely ... innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement, and he defended the way the raid was conducted. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.

The FBI will monitor how effective, fair and professional the law enforcement agency's conduct was during the incident, Wolf said. A police spokesman declined comment Thursday on the FBI investigation.

Police announced Wednesday they had arrested two men suspected in a plot to smuggle 417 pounds of marijuana, and seized a total of $3.6 million in pot. Investigators said the package that arrived on Calvo's porch had been sent from Los Angeles via FedEx, and they had been tracking it ever since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.

Police intercepted it in Maryland, and an undercover detective posing as a deliveryman took it to the Calvo home.

Calvo's defenders - including the Berwyn Heights police chief, who said his department should have been alerted ahead of time - said police had no right to enter the home without knocking.

But officials insisted they acted within the law, saying the operation was compromised when Calvo's mother-in-law saw officers approaching the house and screamed. That could have given someone time to grab a gun or destroy evidence, authorities said.

Neighbors in Berwyn Heights, which Calvo described as "Mayberry inside the Capital Beltway," have rallied around the couple. On Sunday night, supporters gathered on a ballfield to pay tribute to the family and the dogs. A banner on the wooden fence around Calvo's yard read, "Cheye and Trinity, We support you, Friends and Citizens of Berwyn Heights." Around it were dozens of handwritten messages from supporters.

In addition to being the part-time mayor, Calvo works at a nonprofit foundation that runs boarding schools. His wife is a state finance officer.

"When all of this happened I was flabbergasted," said next-door neighbor Edward Alexander. "I was completely stunned because those dogs didn't hurt anybody. They barely bark."

The case is the latest embarrassment for Prince George's County officials. A former police officer was sentenced in May to 45 years in prison for shooting two furniture deliverymen at his home last year, one of them fatally. He claimed that they attacked him. In June, a suspect jailed in the death of a police officer was found strangled in his cell.

Calvo said he was astonished that police have not only failed to apologize, but declined to clear the couple's names.

His wife spoke through tears as she described an encounter with a girl who used to see the couple walking their dogs.

"She gave me a big hug and she said, `If the police shot your dogs dead and did this to you, how can I trust them?'" Tomsic said. "I don't want people to feel like that. I just want them to be proud of our police and proud to live in Prince George's County."

[maggg1]

Ohhhhhh, please, you are going to try and pin this on a demographic?

get a life!

if you want to have a real debate, let me know

[hbevis]

AS LONG AS WE LET THE L.I.B.E.R.A.L N.E.W.S PEOPLE BRAINWASH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WE ARE GOING TO SEE MORE AND MORE OF THIS KIND OF THING. THE DON''T WANT PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY TO BE ABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES IN ANY WAY. THE TALKING HEADS SAY THAT THE "POLICE" WILL PROTECT YOU. PROTECT H.E.L.L. THIS CASE IS A GOOD ONE TO SHOW WHAT OUT OF CONTROL LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE CAN DO.

[hbevis]

There are not enough words to express how I feel about this case. I have been associated with law enforcement for a long time.

WHERE IN THE H.E.L.L. ARE THE HEADS OF OUR LAW MAKERS THESE DAYS. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" FOR G.O.D.''s SAKE.

[allurfears]

Americans have slept through the wholesale elimination of many liberties by a growing Police State. Unlimited surveillance, "wink and nod" to warrantless home invasions, unaccountable police actions like in this example, and a government that simply says "we can do whatever we want. Sue us." - as it laughs at how powerless American Citizens have become.

Wake UP America! You are no longer secure in your homes from a government that is out of control! The founders of this country would be horrified to see what we have allowed our government to become.

[dixxson-2009]

These raids are setup for the entertainment of thrill killers" and serve no other constructive purpose.
They are criminal and need to stop and the criminals fired and jailed.
In Ohio they shot a new mom in the back after crashing in her door as she ran to shield her baby, killing her and her puppy and shooting off the babies
finger. When the American press leaves Paris Hilton if ever and talk Human Rights, they bring up Cuba, China. North Korea. As if Americans don''t have rights, or are not Human!

[tadao3]

The facts in this case appear to indicate an inexcusable lack of communication between two police departments. Law enforcement agencies usually try to cooperate with each other when conducting an investigation in another''s jurisdiction as a matter of courtesy. The Prince George P.D. should have notified Berwyn Heights P.D. of their intent to target Calvo''s residence with a narco raid. Had that been done the Prince George P.D. investigators would known that it was indeed the home of Berwyn Height''s own Mayor. With this knowledge, the investigation would more than likely not have taken such a violent turn. Some law enforcement agencies tend to value taking credit and kudos for a successful investigation more than sharing the credits in a join effort with another agency. Other times there is distrust of the other agency and fear that their efforts would compromise by an internal leak. Whatever reason, the Prince George P.D. raid ended in a total disaster. Civil Rights Violation? Quite possible. Civil lawsuit? More than likely based on gross negligence and poor judgment. The U.S. Justice Department (FBI) will eventually determine the outcome of this mess with hopefully a severe penalty for those responsible.

[babooph]

I thought political connections ,or big money was checked for prior to a drug raid-this could easily have been a CIA agents dog!!

[rwm2_2000]

The sheriff and whoever is responsible for shooting these dogs instead of using mace like the post office does needs to be punished SEVERELY PUNISHED...NOT SENT HOME ON PAID TIME...Even if the dogs were mean dogs mace would of been sufficient to handle them. As far as an apology goes I don''t care to hear it myself.

[threynolds2]

Sorry bout the double post - I didn''t realize the most recent was on top....

[threynolds2]

Any man who is afraid of a Labrador does not need to be a policeman.